The Lost and the Found
by alltimehustler
Summary: They say the only way to succeed is to try again. They never tell you that trying again could be the most difficult thing you've ever had to do. They don't tell you anything. They expect you to blindly embark into the unknown. So, that's what I'm doing. I'm trekking off into the unknown, hoping to stumble into my own little world of perfection.


**So, I'm back after a long period of absence. I haven't written in a while, so I'm sorry if this is a bit rusty. I'm leaving the pairing for Lillian open for now. If anyone who reads this wants to review and comment on who you want to see Lillian with in this particular story, I am all for it! I may have to change this story to a mature rating at a later date, I'm not entirely certain yet. Anyway, that's enough from me. I hope you enjoy!**

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They say the only way to succeed is to try again. They never tell you that trying again could be the most difficult thing you've ever had to do. They don't tell you that jumping back into the game is going to feel like voluntarily suffocating yourself. They don't tell you anything. They expect you to blindly embark into the unknown. So, that's what I'm doing. I'm trekking off into the unknown with no more than $500 and the clothes on my back. The long stretch of dirt road in front of me is almost serene as the grassy hills clash with the baby blue skyline. The click clack of hooves against the earth is entrancing. I feel my eyes start to drift shut and the rhythmic swaying of my steed to and fro claimed me into a deep trance.

The sun was high in the sky, indicating it was almost mid-day. The heat was almost unbearable, a musky kind of warmth that created a light sweat on my brow. I deepened my breaths, lolling my neck in a slow circle to stretch the tense muscles. I would have to stop and rest eventually. I had ridden straight through the night, dead set on leaving behind my prior town and all the memories that I left there. I shuddered lightly, chastening myself for drifting back to that horrid place. There was hope, a new beginning. I just had to search for it. I reared back my eyelids and reached for my canister of water. I took a long pull of the fluid, nearly spitting it back out as the luke warmth hit my throat. I would definitely need to stop soon for new water and a break from the torment of the saddle. I observed my surroundings, noticing not much else but a blanket of forestry surrounding me on either side of the path. After riding for another mile or so, the sun glinted off the surface of what I hoped to be a fresh water pond. I steered my steed over to the lake and dismounted, leading him over to the lake on foot. He bowed his head to capture some water into his mouth as I stood, canister in hand, beside him.

I tried to focus only on the task at hand. It was hard to not capture my reflected appearance in the surface of the water, but my eyes automatically focused on it. I gasped as I ran my eyes over the deep, dark smudges of sleep deprivation showcased under my charcoal eyes. My normally smooth, chestnut hair ran in thick knot and hung limply against my shoulders, tamed by only my dirt smeared bandana. Exhausted ran prominent in every line in my face. My light gray t-shirt was smeared with mud much like my cotton shorts. Scratches ran up and down my long legs from the assault of thorns and rogue tree branches. My tennis shoes looked ragged, matching how I felt on the inside. I looked exactly like I feared I had: broken and running from something. I reared my eyes away from my reflection, jerkily kneeling down at the waterside. I filtered the surprisingly cool water into my canteen, focusing on regulating my breathing more than anything. Once completed, I quickly rose to my feet and placed my canister back into the saddle bag. Not giving myself time to think, I remounted the house and led him back to the path in a dead run. I could not think. I did not think.

Hours passed like this. I watched numbly as the sun became less iridescent and quickly faded to black. I knew I should set up camp for the night, but stopping meant having to think. Thinking meant remembering, and I couldn't afford to do that right now. When the steed automatically slowed into a casual trot, I edged him to go back to a gallop with a light kick of the heels. I couldn't slow my world down. Slowing down meant having time to think, and thinking was out of the question for now. The night blossomed around me. Over the sharp thuds of the steed's hooves, I heard an owl hoot in the distance. A wolf howled to the moon, the sound grated down my spine like nails on a chalk board. I gripped the reins tighter in my clenched fists. I took quick, shallow breaths between my teeth. I always hated the dark, more so after what happened… I shook the thought from my brain, focusing on not hyperventilating. I really should stop for the night. With nothing to light the pathway, I was relying solely on the visual capabilities of my steed in the near blackness. As another wolf called in the distance, though much closer sounding than the last one, a cold sweat induced completely by fear ran down the side of my porcelain face. The steed reared back, neighing loudly. I gripped the reins in terror as he crashed back to the earth, taking off in a dead sprint towards absolutely nowhere. As he ran, moonlight broke through the trees as they tapered off into a meadow of some sort. He stopped dead in his tracks as another howl sounded, catching me off guard and throwing me over his large brown head. I went crashing to the ground, feeling myself rolling down the steep hill that went to the left of the meadow. I flailed out my hands to catch myself on something, anything, but I went straight off of a small ledge, landing on a rocky incline below. My head smashed against something causing pain the shoot through my skull. The momentum of my body stopped as my clothing caught on a large, pointed stone formation. My vision blurred around the corners, my dazed mind catching the faint sound of my house galloping off in terror before unconsciousness claimed me in its vice-like grip.

"_Mom, do I really have to go to school today? No one is going to like me because I'm the new kid!" I whined, pulling on Mom's pant leg as she bustled around the kitchen readying my lunch. _

"_Yes, Lillian, you have to go to school. Little girls who don't go to school get sent to the boogeyman, and you don't want that, right?" Mom crooned, invoking a horrified sudder out of my seven year old body._

"_The boogeyman is scary!" I wailed, cuddling against Mom's legs. I felt her whole body shake as laughter racked her entire frame. _

"_Then it's settled!" She exclaimed and she zipped my lunchbox closed, kneeling before me. "You're going to school and you're going to charm absolutely everyone!" _

_I pouted, pulling my chin in towards my chest and casted my gaze towards the floor. "Hey,"Mom said softly, "none of that. You're my beautiful Lillian. Everything will be okay." _

_She pulled me towards her chest as stroked her fingers through my long curled chestnut hair. Mom always said she adored my hair longer, so I kept it that way to please her. She was always so pretty when she was happy. On those nights when I caught her in the living room, clutching the framed photo of my father and sobbing, I would always crawl into her side and let her stroke my hair. My hair made her happy, and that's all I wanted her to be. Mom sighed deeply before pulling back from me. She kissed me lightly on the cheek before shooing me off to get my shoes on. I trudged to the front door and slipped on my pair of pretty pink ballet slippers. I slung my backpack over one shoulder and headed out into the front yard. I bounded over to a small patch of our yard where dandelions grew and plucked one from the ground. Mom closed the front door and locked it, the sound catching my attention and rearing me around as I sprinted back to her. I held out the flower in my palm, making her smile so bright it was almost dazzling. _

"_Oh, Lily, thank you. But it would look so much prettier in your hair than with me!" she stated as she kneeled before me and tucked the dandelion into my hair behind my ear. _

"_There. Now you're my beautiful flower."_

"Hey, lady, are you okay?" a voice screeched from far away, causing pain to rocket through my head and making me groan.

"Oh, this looks bad. Cheryl, run to the clinic in Konohana and tell Dr. Ayame to come quick! Go!" a male yelled, making the pain in my skull go skyhigh.

I heard a faint pitter patter of feet before I felt a thud land beside me as if someone had jumped down to perch alongside of me. "Hey, ma'am, I wouldn't move if I were you. You're pretty banged up. Can you hear me? Open your eyes if you can hear me?"

I groaned again as the pain cascaded in my head and reared my eyes open. The form that hovered over my body was bleary at first, causing me to blink a handful of times. As his form came more into the focus, the more confused I became. What had happened? Where was I? As my eyes adjusted to the intense slant of the sun hanging overhead, I took a good look at the male. He was tall, and riddled with sinewy muscles evident under his beige button down tucked into a pair of gray slacks held up by suspenders. His hair was like mine, a chestnut brown, and disheveled. It was tucked under a brown checkered hat that sat loosely on the top of his head. His eyes were a shocking shade of sea foam green. They were a lovely color. His face held youth, but also an underlying sense of maturity and responsibility. It was an intriguing mixture of the two qualities.

"Dr. Ayame is almost here. I can hear them coming over the ridge. Can you tell me what your name is?" the boy asked, dragging my attention away from his features back to the pounding in my head from the sound of his deep voice.

"L-Lillian." I stammered, causing a deep red blush to form on my cheeks. Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice, because then the doctor arrived.

"Oh, goodness. This looks bad. Hiro, help me fasten her to the stretcher so we can take her back to the clinic." a woman calmly stated, joining us on the ledge alongside another male.

I felt hands tug and pull at my broken body, causing pain to coarse from head to toe. It was too much. With a gasp, I fell back into unconsciousness.

"_Class, we have a new student. This is Lillian, everyone." the teacher, Mrs. Parks, announced as she continued writing on the chalkboard. _

_ I scrambled out of the doorway and practically sprinted towards the only available seat in the middle of the room. I felt all eyes on me as I threw my stuff in the floor beside my chair and clenched my fists against my thigh. Mom said I needed to be brave today, no tears. I wouldn't cry, because that would make Mom sad. I took a deep breath and pulled out the math notebook the principle had given me when I walked in the office holding Mom's hand. I scribbled my name in the front cover, and I felt a hand tug at my hair._

_ I whipped around and faced the boy sitting behind me. He was grinning from ear to ear. He had strikingly blond hair cut into little spiky layers that framed his little face and made his blue eyes seem almost lighter than the sky. He was dressed in a red Mickey mouse shirt and a pair of blue jeans. He leaned forward over his desk, which was currently being overtaken with crayons and a piece of paper he was drawing on._

"_Hi, I'm Davis. Let's be best friends."_

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**I didn't mean for this first chapter to be so long. A lot of it feels repetitive and rushed to me, but hopefully that will smooth out once I get back into the flow of things. I haven't written in about a year, so this feels good. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Things may be slow right now, but it will pick up eventually. The italicized parts will ultimately be a story all in itself. They're glimpses into what Lillian doesn't allow herself to think about while conscience. Anyway, thank you for reading and leave a review if you liked it! Don't forget to tell me who you want Lillian to do some schmoozing with! Lots of love. ~Brittany**


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